There were many people who believed that Littlestown could upset West York and earn a share of the YAIAA Division II championship.

Those believers were the Thunderbolt players, coaches and fans.

On Friday night at West York, Littlestown rewarded its faithful with a dominating performance, earning a 47-21 win over the Bulldogs.

Littlestown improved to 8-2 overall and tied West York for the Division II crown with a 6-1 league mark. The Thunderbolts will likely earn the third seed in the upcoming District 3 Class AA playoffs.

An excited coach Mike Lippy told his squad it will probably have a home game for districts next week, drawing a chorus of cheers from the team that thoroughly thumped previously unbeaten and state-ranked West York.

"We talked about it in the locker room. We weren't going to be shocked if we won this game,"

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Lippy said.

However, Lippy did admit to a bit of a surprise.

"Did I think we could score 47 points and leave 14 on the table? No," he said. "I thought we could move the ball and compete against them. It's nice to put it all together one night and in a meaningful game."

The Bulldogs dropped to 9-1, 6-1 and will likely fall to the No. 4 spot in the Class AAA tournament, which they won last season. The loss was West York's first at home in 22 games.

"They out-coached us. I didn't give my team a chance to be successful," Bulldog coach Ron Miller said. "I take responsibility for it. I have to go put a team back together and get ready for the second season."

The Thunderbolts entered the game with the league's most proficient passing game, which stayed true to form. But the team also ran for 264 yards, as Littlestown produced 466 yards of offense and 22 first downs.

Matt Zuber threw for 202 yards with three touchdown passes. He added 70 more and two scores on the ground. Junior running back Sean Doherty had a breakout game with 26 carries for 132 yards and a score.

"It feels great," Doherty said. "We knew we had to come down here and get the job done. We prepared for it all week."

Littlestown led 14-0 after Doherty's touchdown, but West York's Corey Harris returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards, cutting the gap in half.

But the Bulldog euphoria lasted just 31 seconds, as Matt Koontz (five receptions, 132 yards) made a magnificent catch for 26 yards to set up a zigzagging Zuber, who rolled to the end zone from 35 yards out.

Harris answered on the next series with a 16-yard scoring romp. However less than two minutes later, Koontz brought in a Zuber offering for a 52-yard touchdown and West York was in trouble.

Zuber's only mistake came on the next Littlestown set when his pass was intercepted by Zach Trone. The Bulldogs drove the length of the field, but failed to score on four chances from the Bolt 1-yard line, and the first half expired.

"I really though we had them on their heels. They were constantly fighting to get back in the game," Lippy said. "The kid returned a touchdown that cut it to 14-7, but our kids never buckled.

"To me, that is the testament of a good team playing a team that I don't think anybody expected to lose."
snavaroli@ydr.com; 771-2060  

Littlestown  7  21  12    7 -- 47
West York  0  14    7    0 -- 21

First Quarter
   Lt -- Mitch Deaner 30 pass from Matt Zuber (Adam Hunt kick), 8:44
Second Quarter
   Lt -- Sean Doherty 2 run (Hunt kick), 11:07
   WY -- Corey Harris 85 kickoff return (Blaine Shaffer kick), 10:52
   Lt -- Zuber 35 run (Hunt kick), 10:21
   WY -- Harris 16 run (Shaffer kick), 7:31
   Lt -- Matt Koontz 52 pass from Zuber (Hunt kick), 5:42
Third Quarter
   Lt -- Zuber 5 run (kick failed), 6:06
   Lt -- Deaner 40 pass from Zuber (pass failed), 3:22
   WY -- Harris 5 run (Shaffer kick), 1:03
Fourth Quarter
   Lt -- Tyler Fodor 1 run (Hunt kick), 10:05
 
-- Lt -- WY
First downs -- 22 -- 13
Rushes-yards -- 51-264 -- 32-137
Passing -- 7-14-1 -- 13-26-1
Passing yards -- 202 -- 125
Total yards -- 466 -- 262
Punts -- 3-33.0 -- 4-31.3
Fumbles-lost -- 2-0 -- 5-3
Penalties-yards -- 7-55 -- 2-5

 
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
   Rushing -- Littlestown, Sean Doherty 26-132, Matt Zuber 10-70, Tyler Fodor 12-54, Josh Bucher 3-8; West York, Alex George 14-78, Corey Harris 13-53, KaVonn DeShields 4-11, Zach Trone 1-(-5).
   Passing -- Littlestown, Matt Zuber 7-14-1-202; WY, Alex George 13-26-1-125.
   Receiving -- Littlestown, Matt Koontz 5-132, Mitch Deaner 2-70; WY, Dan Gay 6-53, Corey Harris 3-26, Darion Bundy 2-10, Chantz Ilgenfritz 1-38, Brett Campbell 1-(-2).

Also of interest

· The dogs got out: Book profiles West York championship football season

· Is West York's Brandon Real the best local running back ever?